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Relatives: Husband of Isabella Kennedy Stone Condition: Sound, Tilted Material: Sandstone Height: 1.51 Breadth: 0.76 Depth: 0.18 Inscription Condition: Clear but worn Inscription Technique: Incised Mason: W. Scott, Cathcart Pre 1855 no. N/A ( What's this? )

Monument Inscription

ERECTED
BY

ISABELLA KENNEDY
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
HER HUSBAND
WILLIAM KENNEDY
WHO DIED 29TH APRIL 1894
AGED 50 YEARS



“DEATH A SLEEP, AND AH HOW SWEET,
TO SOULS PREPARED ITS STROKE TO MEET,
THEIR DYING BEDS, THEIR GRAVES ARE BLEST,
FOR ALL TO THEM IS PEACE AND REST.”

Family History

This monument stands testament to a relationship not only of deep affection but of mutual respect. The stone is headed by the sign of crossed clasped hands signifying the strong bond between the parties or, for those of a more macabre turn of mind, the deceased welcoming death. The inscription at the foot of the memorial shows an understanding approach to death one might come to expect from the parties involved.

William Kennedy, the subject of this memorial, was of the travelling fraternity. He and his family travelled the land in a wagon and had at the time of his demise been camped in the parish near to Glanderston Farm. He had apparently suffered a stroke.

William was described as a horse dealer and hawker, and had been the child of a basket maker called Matthew Kennedy and his wife Nicolas Jamieson. Such families travelled the land widely and became known to the local population, and their labour was sought at busy times on farms particularly at harvest.

By virtue of their life style the travelling people of those times left little trace of their existence and maintained their privacy. The fact that William was married to an Isabella Kennedy could indicate either that they failed to use her maiden name, or that she was related to the family, usually a first cousin. How many children they had is not known but a son John is responsible for registering his father’s death, signing the certificate with a cross indicating that he had not learned to write.

Whatever may have been felt by the establishment about the inclusion of a gypsy or traveller within the graveyard was overcome as William was allowed to be buried there, and his monument puts many others to shame.